Baybay & Baybee: Week 77 (1/23-1/29)

77 weeks old!

It seems that we have entered a new era: Maya has figured out that if she moves her chair over to the counter, she can get at the snacks by herself. And while her sister is busy climbing on the counters, Ella has been experimenting with temper tantrums.

"Tantrum" may not be quite the right word, but she has been getting extremely whiny and demanding at times. She gets so worked up, crying and repeating "Up!" over and over again. This behavior has been particularly prominent when she seems to be trying unsuccessfully to communicate something to us (a desire? a need? an observation?). It's sad and frustrating for us, too, but it all seems to pass pretty quickly if we can distract her. I think when she learns how to say more words, things will get easier.

It was decided (and by decided, I mean insisted upon) that Rody (the red bouncy horse sitting in my chair) was hungry, too. Therefore, he had to sit at the table for lunch.

I got my hair cut! It hasn't been this short in many years. I'm really happy with the way it looks and the babies are getting used to it. At first, they kept pointing to my head, as if to say, "Mama, where did all your hair go!?" I am happy to say that no one has pulled my hair since I got it cut.

First picture of my new haircut.

I brought the futon into the living room this week. It was mainly for me, because I was tired of sitting on the floor while playing with Maya and Ella. Turns out, a bed in the living room is a lot of fun to play on. In this picture, Maya, Ella and Rody are taking a (pretend) nap. Pretend naps have been fun for the girls in their beds for a while--they never seem to tire of it, while we narrate: "Ella's sleeping. Oh!  She's awake!  And now she's napping again.  Wait! She's not sleeping, she's awake!"

Ella didn't want to take a nap on Friday morning, so we made an apple pie instead.

Playing peek-a-boo with Uncle Guy.

 Family grocery shopping trip at the co-op.

 At the farmer's market with Dada.

We brought the dry erase board easel back upstairs this week and the girls have been going to town drawing on it. They have also been pretty good about not drawing on anything else. They ask us to draw a doggie, a bike, and write out the words Grandma, Papa, Mama, Dada, Guy, Maya, and Ella. Brett and I do get tired of drawing doggies every time they draw, but it's fun to see them filling up the board with lines and squiggles.

Some post-dinner drawing.

Maya is very serious about her art.

We had a nice visit with Spartan, Hannah, and Max on Sunday. We went up around lunch time and stayed for a couple hours. Maya and Ella had fun playing with Max's toys and we got to catch up with our friends. Max is several months younger but up and walking now, so the developmental differences between Max and our girls are becoming pretty minor. Pretty soon, they'll just be three kids running around!

The babies on the chair go round and round, round and round, round and round. The babies on the chair go round and round, all day long.

I just love this picture of Spartan and Max.

Max following Maya.

Trying out Max's rocking chair.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 76 (1/16-1/22)

76 weeks old!

I turned 31 years old on Monday. Brett and I baked my birthday cake while the girls took their morning nap. We made a carrot-coconut-pineapple cake, with delicious cream cheese frosting. All four of us shared two big pieces (and they sang, "Happy Birthday" to me) before lunch. I wasn't feeling great (the start of a cold) most of my birthday, but it still was a very nice day.

Excitedly watching me frost the cake.

Maya wants to eat the whole cake.

Yum!

A birthday present for me from Kathy. Maya's eyes lit up when she saw that it was boots that I was unwrapping. She tried them on before I did. They were a little big for her. They fit me perfectly!

On Thursday, while playing in the living room with Maya and Ella, I witnessed the sweetest thing. Ella had climbed up onto one of the chairs at the table, but now wanted to get down. She can do this on her own, but often asks for "help" as she did this time, by putting one hand on the other and using the sign. As I watched from the couch, Maya walked over to her sister, took her hand and stood there while Ella used her support to slowly scoot herself down from the chair. It was such a sweet moment and I imagine a little glimpse of many more to come in the months ahead. 

My little rocking-boaters.

Maya balances in the back of the boat, with the help of her sister's shoulder. Bananas make the boat ride even better!

Look, no hands!

Whoa, stop rockin' the boat!

Maya's turn to be the captain.

Here are two cute videos of Maya with Dada.

Up to the ceiling is a fun game that they play a lot.

Balancing!

Kathy came for a visit and brought with her Maya's hat with a new pom-pom sewed on the top. Ella had pulled off the pom-pom in the car one day and ever since then, Maya had been disappointed (to say the least) whenever she went to the hat basket to pick out her favorite hat.

"Yay! My hat is fixed!"


Happy to see Grandma.

So excited!

A quiet close up.

Here are a few extra pictures from the week.

The snow in the bowl has been such a hit. We even tried it in the bath. It worked great until the bowl sunk and the snow disappeared. 

Ella and her books. Step 1: choose book from shelf and bring it over to stool. Step 2: climb onto stool, with book. Step 3: flip through book and giggle to self. Step 4: toss book on floor. Step 5: repeat.

Maya, asking for help ("oof!") taking her shoe off, so she can wear her boots instead.  

"Bye-bye, school bus!"

Baybay & Baybee: Week 75 (1/9-1/15)

75 weeks old!

This was another full week of play, rest, and everything in between. Our HooteNanny singing class started up again on Wednesday! Maya and Ella were very excited to go. When Katryna picked up her guitar and began the, "Good morning, sunshine" song, they both watched with open mouths, which quickly turned into huge smiles.

Excited to be at HooteNanny!

Another musical accomplishment: Maya learned how to play the harmonica! She's a little embarrassed/shy when she plays still, so this isn't a very long video.

We took a few other videos this week.

Popcorn has been a favorite snack lately. 

When the popcorn is right there, and someone is willing to feed you, why wait to eat until you're done?

Putting on boots.

Coloring with crayons.

We got outside to play in the snow some more this week and also took a few trips out in the world. Brett and the girls went grocery shopping and he also brought them over to visit Guy. I took them to the library and we each did a stroller walk or two. 

I've realized that going out alone with both girls is only really difficult at a few key moments. Namely, the going and the returning. It's just plain hard (and takes a long time) to get everyone dressed and ready to go. Also, they are heavy. So, for example, say Maya doesn't want to leave the library, but it's time to go. And then imagine that Ella is tired (hence the time to go part) and starts to cry and take off her shoes and jacket when I put her down. By the time I have caught Maya and brought her back to the pile of clothes on the floor where Ella was, I have just enough energy left to scoop both girls up and carry them as quickly as I can out of the library. It's exhausting! I try not to let thoughts of this deter me from taking them places. It's helpful to remember to leave myself a lot of time. 

Almost spring time?

Gloves on!

Gloves off!

Getting out for a walk.

Just hanging out at Uncle Guy's house.

Maya liked watching this older boy at the library.

These Legos were a lot of fun.

Dolls. Maya and Ella like baby dolls. It's cute to see them "rock" the babies in their arms and carry them around. They have recently really enjoyed playing a game where they get the dolls ready for bed and then tuck them in. It's kind of the most adorable thing ever.

Bed on the floor all made up for the dolls. (Maya is just testing it out.)

Maya tucks in her doll. Ella makes sure her doll's pacifier works.

Baby is all tucked in and is sleeping according to Maya (who is signing 'sleep').

Ella is sleeping, too.

Friday evening, Brett and I went out to see a Cheryl Wheeler concert at the Iron Horse. Kathy came over to watch Maya and Ella. About an hour before we were planning to head out for the evening, I realized that Ella was running a low grade temperature. She was also acting very clingy and clearly wasn't feeling well. When Kathy arrived we decided to still go ahead and go out, even though Ella wasn't well. I worried a lot until I got a reassuring text saying that they both went to bed with no problems. Apparently Maya was super helpful with getting bedtime clothes together and Ella was cuddly and (though still running a temperature) in a good mood.

The concert was great (as was getting to see Steech!) and we feel so thankful that Kathy was able to stay with the girls.

The next morning. Ella and Dada cuddled up in bed.

Homemade carrot juice. Yum.

Ella knows just what to do when she's not feeling well.

Watching Dada haul away a bunch of junk to the dump! By Saturday afternoon, Ella was feeling better and we feel lucky that no one else got sick.  Maybe it was all the carrot juice we drank?

Tickle, tickle, tickle.

Feeding doggies popcorn.